Beijing has made similar accusations before, but Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi's comments come amid a lockdown of Tibetan regions for Tuesday's 50th anniversary of a failed uprising against Chinese rule that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.

"The Dalai side still insist on establishing a so-called Greater Tibet on a quarter of China's territory," Yang told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session in Beijing.

"They want to drive away the Chinese armed forces on Chinese territory and ask all non-Tibetans to relocate themselves, people who have long spent their lives in that part of Chinese territory," he said.

"You call this person a religious figure?"

The Dalai Lama, 74, who accuses China of cultural repression in Tibet, has repeatedly denied Beijing's accusations. He says he seeks only meaningful autonomy for the region.

In another sign of growing vigilance ahead of next week's anniversary, the Tibet Daily on Saturday carried a front-page article showing the region's Communist chief, Zhang Qingli, visiting riot police.

"We must keep a watchful eye, and with clenched fists, constantly be on the alert," Zhang was quoted as telling the officers, dressed in full protective gear.

"We must resolutely and directly strike at criminal elements who dare to stir up incidents. We must foil the separatist schemes of the Dalai clique," Zhang said in Friday's meeting.

Meanwhile, China detained two Tibetan women Thursday for protesting in a Tibetan part of Sichuan province in the southwest, the International Campaign for Tibet said in a statement.

"The two women, a nun and layperson, staged separate protests in Kardze town, handing out leaflets and calling for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet," said the statement, issued Saturday.

Following a bitter spat with Europe over a December meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the Dalai Lama, Yang warned other countries that friendly relations with China hinged on rejecting the exiled monk.

"In developing relations with China, other countries should not allow the Dalai Lama to visit their countries or allow their territories to be used by the Dalai Lama to engage in separatist activities," he said.

"This is an integral part of the norms governing international relations."

Unrest has simmered in Tibet since violent anti-Chinese riots erupted a year ago on the 49th anniversary of the 1959 uprising.

Activist groups said China had hugely increased security across the region although several protests have already taken place in recent weeks.

One of the region's leaders said Friday Tibet had asked for more police and other security, expressing fears Dalai Lama supporters could foment unrest on the anniversary.

"We have asked for increases in the armed police, police, firemen, border forces and public security," Qiangba Puncog, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, told reporters at the parliamentary session.

China has ruled Tibet since 1951, a year after sending in troops to "liberate" the Buddhist region.

Yang also called on France to take steps to fix relations damaged by the Dalai Lama row, while expressing confidence ties would improve.

"The current problems in China-French relations are not caused by the Chinese side. We hope France will make a positive response to China's concerns," he said.

Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama last year angered Beijing, which retaliated by cancelling a summit with the European Union in France that was scheduled for December.

At the time, France held the rotating presidency of the EU. China and the European Union have since agreed to reschedule the summit.

Ties between China and France have recently also been affected by the auction in Paris of two Chinese works of art, which went ahead despite protests from Beijing.

earlier related report
Dalai Lama guard recalls leader's dramatic escape
Sitting in his riverside house in north Delhi, Ratu Ngawang casts his mind back 50 years and recalls how he helped smuggle the Dalai Lama to safety as Chinese soldiers followed in hot pursuit.

Ngawang, now 83, was one of the hardened guerrilla fighters responsible for ensuring the Tibetan spiritual leader was not captured or killed on his hair-raising journey over the Himalayas to India.

"It was my job to ensure that wherever the Dalai Lama was staying, there were no Chinese troops in the surrounding area," he said. "I ran the security operation, and also selected those guards who would be near His Holiness."

Ngawang remembers those desperate days -- when the Tibetans were fighting for their survival -- as exciting, violent and physically demanding.

"We killed many of their soldiers, and without regret," he said. "I was an experienced warrior and was unafraid. We were battling to save the Dalai Lama, so we were prepared to die. Many of my best friends lost their lives."

Ngawang, who is now slightly deaf but otherwise appears in good health, has recently published an autobiography that took him 13 years to complete.

It tells of his adventures fighting in Tibet and also of his later life in India, much of which he has spent trying to foster an armed resistance movement inside his homeland.

"It has been a sad life for me, being away from home for 50 years, but my only worries have been for the welfare of the Tibetans still in Tibet and whether the Dalai Lama will ever return," he said.

The book is illustrated with pictures of Ngawang and his fellow guerrillas posing with captured Chinese weapons, and one photograph that shows Ngawang and the Dalai Lama travelling on horseback before the dramatic events of 1959.

"Look, we are both wearing the same woollen 'monkey caps,'" he said, pointing at the picture. "Many years later the Dalai Lama asked me where my hat was. I'd lost it, but he said he still has the same one."

Ngawang is celebrated among Tibetan exiles for his role in the Dalai Lama's epic escape, though he did not accompany his leader across the border into India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh on March 31.

"We had to make sure the terrain around him was always safe by sending advance teams ahead on the route. As he went on, I then stayed back to tackle the Chinese troops who were following," he recalled.

Ngawang crossed into India later in 1959 and settled in Majnu Katila, a Tibetan district in north Delhi where about 3,000 exiles and families live beside the Yamuna river.

On March 10, the community will hold ceremonies and prayers marking the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising against China after which the young Tibetan leader was forced to flee.

Ngawang, who plans to spend the day quietly at home, remains in close contact with Dalai Lama and is confident that those who protect him today are up to the job.

"My son Tenzin Gawa serves now as one of his personal bodyguards," he said. "Of course, that makes me very proud."

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